A new late Early Oligocene vertebrate fauna from Moissac, South-West France

The new vertebrate locality Moissac-IV, in SW France, yields the alligatoroid Diplocynodon sp., the turtle Trionyx sp., and a diversified mammal fauna. The mammal assemblage includes the rodent Protechimys cf. lebratierensis, the artiodactyls Caenomeryx sp., Lophiomeryx chalaniati, Gelocus sp., Metriotherium aff. mirabile, Entelodon sp., and Anthracotherium sp., the perissodactyls Protaceratherium albigense and Eggysodon gaudryi, the carnivore Nimravus intermedius, and the creodonts Hyaenodon dubius and Hyaenodon?leptorhynchus. The Moissac-IV fauna, referred to the MP24 reference level, is both totally distinct from those of Moissac-I (MN1, Earliest Miocene) and Moissac-II (MP29, Late Oligocene) and older than Moissac-III (MP26). It provides original data in a stratified context just prior the Early-Late Oligocene transition, i.e. a stratigraphical interval, which for SW France, was essentially documented by karstic fillings of the Phosphorites of Quercy so far.